A panic-stricken French government on Sunday climbed down on its latest savings tax on middle classes over fears of a violent revolt over tax hikes.

The decision to shelve a retroactive tax on home loan, employee and equity savings plans came a day after a protester had his hand ripped off in violent clashes in Brittany against another new "eco-tax" on freight lorries.

French football clubs, meanwhile, are holding crisis talks with President François Hollande on Thursday after calling a strike to protest against paying a 75 per cent "super tax" on players earning more than a million euros (£854,000).

Since his election last May, Mr Hollande's government has pushed through more than 80 new tax rises while introducing austerity measures in an attempt to meet its deficit reduction commitments to the European Union.

Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, conceded last month that the French can take no more rises and promised a "halt" to any more from 2015 onwards.

But the Socialists sparked fresh fury last week over a plan to slap a blanket retroactive 15.5 per cent tax on millions of French savings plans.

One centrist former minister called it "plain spoliation", while Nathalie Kosciusko Morizet, Right-wing candidate for mayor of Paris, said: "The government is behaving like a thug who shamelessly sticks his hand into everyone's savings."

On Saturday, two people were seriously injured when hundreds of farmers and lorry drivers clashed with police over a plan to impose an "eco-tax" on vehicles transporting freight on French roads. Protesters wore red caps just like 6,000 Bretons who rose up against Louis XIV's levy on stamp paper in 1675.

With two anti-tax fires raging, Bernard Cazeneuve, the budget minister, on Sunday promised to scrap the savings tax, which will now only apply to life insurance.

"We hear the concerns (of French tax payers) and we want to put an end to them," he said.

However, the Breton protesters promised an even bigger demonstration on November 2. "This was just a warning shot," said Thierry Merret, head of the FDSEA farmer's federation in Brittany.